Rules for Law Student Employment at Washburn Law

Please be advised that a student may not be employed more than 20 hours per week in any week in which the student is enrolled in more than twelve class hours.

The professor you will be working for must send an e-mail to Donna McMurry at donna.mcmurry@washburn.edu stating that: 1) you will be working for the professor and 2) the capacity in which you will be working.

Students must have a signed employment contract before they begin working. All documents must be completed in front of the Student Employment Coordinator, who will also notarize the documents. Washburn University School of Law must be in compliance with Federal Guidelines for Student Employment. The University reserves the right to terminate student employment contracts at any time.

The following positions require a background check be completed before a contract can be signed:

Structured Study Group Leaders

Teaching Assistants

Clinic Student Coordinators

Students must present a driver's license and a social security card for I-9 verification. Homeland Security will not accept a passport as the only documentation for the I-9.

Students will be able to enter hours worked online through MyWashburn once a contract is signed.

The School of Law requires a student to also complete a paper timesheet and submit it to the supervising professor. This is in addition to the web entry because professors are not able to view the time entered online. Student must identify professors they are working for on the paper timesheet in the upper right hand corner. Professors review, sign, and return the paper timesheets to Donna McMurry in the Dean's office.

Students will be notified of the deadline for web entry through their Washburn e-mail address.

If for some reason students are unable to enter their hours on line, the paper timesheet will be processed for payment. This will cause a delay in payment because the time will need to be entered manually by the Payroll Office.

Students cannot wait until the end of the semester and submit all of their hours worked at once.

American Bar Association (ABA) guidelines do not allow students to work more than 20 hours per week when enrolled in more than 12 hours of course work.

Students may work for more than one professor and hold more than one position.

Example A: A student is hired as a Structured Study Group Leader and for a Teaching Assistant position.

Both positions will require a background check.

The student will sign two different contracts.

The total hours the student may work is 20 hours per week. Allocation of time should be discussed by the student and faculty member(s).

The student will need to complete two separate paper timesheets, indicating the position number and position name on each document.

The web time entry will also require the hours to be entered separately.

Example B: A student is hired as a Research Assistant for two different professors.

A background check is not required before signing a contract.

The total hours a student may work is 20 hours per week. The hours can be split between the professors. Examples: 10 and 10; 6 and 14; 12 and 8; etc.

The hours can be entered on the web time entry under one position number since it is the same type of work.

The student will need to indicate on the paper timesheet the number of hours worked for each professor during the two-week pay period. This allows the hours to be tracked for each individual professor.

Example C: A student was hired as a research assistant for a professor and has completed the work. He or she is then hired by a different professor to do research.

An e-mail must be sent to Donna McMurry at donna.mcmurry@washburn.edu by the second professor indicating that the student has been hired as his or her research assistant.

The student may use the same position number to enter the hours on the web time entry.

The student needs to write the name of the professor he or she is working for on the paper timesheet in the upper right hand corner.

The hours worked for each student position are reported to the ABA on the law school's annual questionnaire.